Yellow Ash
by NPP-VI
Summary: Following an attack on the Ketchum family, an infant Ash is taken in and raised by pokemon in the woods near Pallet. Naturally, this changes things.
1. Prologue

Delia twisted as she fell, biting her tongue to keep from crying out in pain as her back slammed into the dirt. Rolling over with great effort and care, she attempted to stand.

This time she did cry out, barely keeping a hold of the bundle in her arms as she dropped to one knee. One hand went down to the leg that had failed her… Shit. There was no way that was going to support her weight anymore.

This was bad. This was very bad. She was already injured, five of her pokemon were dead, and she'd already sent Butterfree ahead to get Samuel. Poor thing wouldn't have been able to carry her son very far anyway, she'd trained her for displays, not anything practical.

And just to top everything off, the people responsible for her current situation were maybe ten minutes behind her at most. She cleared her mouth of blood – it said something about how much pain she was in generally that she hadn't noticed it filling to begin with – and tried to inventory her options.

Her plotting was interrupted by a noise.

She looked up to find a beedrill watching her curiously. It was obviously wild… but anything was better than the group chasing her. At the very worst, her son's death would be less painful this way. "Please," she begged, "Save my son."

The insect started towards her, then stopped. After a moment's hesitation, it buzzed off.

Delia had no strength left after that. Her baby rolled out of her hands as she collapsed. For a brief instant she had hope of the rain slowing her pursuers and confusing her trail – a hope that shattered and took all her remaining capacity for such with it as she realized it was her own tears soaking the ground.

There was a droning noise, steadily increasing in volume. The prone woman wearily lifted her head as the beedrill returned, an ariados in tow.

Hope had already died. Only desperation fueled her pleas now. "His name is Ash. Please, don't let the other humans take him."

It took some maneuvering, but the child was placed on the ariados's back. Both pokemon gave the mother a mournful look.

"I know; I'm too heavy to move. It's alright, I couldn't have come anyway. They'll never stop hunting if they don't find me. At least this way he has a chance."

No more than ten minutes after a pair of giant poisonous bugs vanished into the dark of the forest with the last thing left in the world that she had to live for, her pursuers caught up with her.

"Sir! There's no sign of any other humans. There are pokemon tracks though, looks like an ariados."

"Feh, it'll be a wild one then. Her pokemon are all accounted for. We're done here; the chief'll appreciate the irony of Jack Ketchum's son being devoured by wild pokemon."

"And what should we do with the body?"

"Nothing. She's not dead yet; viper's just waiting for a chance to strike. Just leave her, the kid was the objective and he's already dead. With how badly she's bleeding, she'll join him soon enough anyway."

"Shouldn't we verify the boy's death sir?"

"Oh, so you have a way of tracking an ariados back to its nest in its own territory in the middle of the night in the three minutes we have before an angry Samuel Oak becomes aware of our presence? If you wish to set a record for most suicide methods used at once, be my guest. I for one choose survival. Those who are like minded, follow me; it's best we not linger."

In truth, the good professor had let his training slip slightly, and it took nearly seven minutes before Samuel Oak found Delia. By this point, she was fading fast, almost gone.

As her old mentor cradled her, she gently pressed into his hand the insignia she'd torn from one of her attackers when the night had begun oh so long ago. She tried to tell him what had happened, but couldn't quite find her voice.

"I… Delia, stay with me, I… I can't hear…"

A final surge of strength, and she was able to bring her head level with his, rasping into his ear, "I heard the Voice Samuel, just like you told me once, long ago. I can see it now, just you watch… all our hope… Ash… of the forest."

And with that, Delia Ketchum – finally – let herself succumb.

* * *

Beedrill shook her head again. _"You heard her Ariados, we can't let humans have him."_

" _But_ _ **different**_ _humans,"_ the spider shot back at his mate, _"_ _ **Safe**_ _humans."_

" _You remember our time with Janice as well as I do. There'll be some system, and_ _ **one**_ _corrupt person in it…"_

" _And he'll wind up right back with the people who killed his mother."_ Ariados sighed. _"Fine, but… what are_ _ **we**_ _supposed to do? Neither of our species develops anything_ _ **like**_ _humans."_

" _No… but."_ Beedrill halted in midair. _"There's one species in this forest that develops almost exactly like them – for the early parts anyway. And a family of them just lost one of their own young."_

" _That… doesn't really balance out."_

" _I know. Human babies eat more. But if we help them, at least for a bit…"_

" _Alright then,"_ Ariados nodded, _"To Pikachu Hollow."_

* * *

The old Seaking was injured and tired just from getting his trainer's daughter away from the sinking boat. And then he'd had to travel through the night, keeping his charge from capsizing in a ship-killing storm.

He'd left the tempest behind miles ago, and finally found land. Not much of it, but an island was better than nothing. Dirt was dirt after all.

He would have likely regretted not paying more attention to the needs of his trainer's species, if not for a slightly more pressing concern.

Namely the gyaradoshunting party that was eyeing him hungrily.

The old fish steeled his resolve. This… this was the single ballsiest move he could think of. But his only other option would be to fight, and if he fought he'd lose, and that wasn't an option unless the child was safe.

" _I invoke the rite of the forgotten shoal!"_

The gyarados exchanged glances, some of them even backing off slightly before one of them swam closer. _"And what young do you pass to us?"_

" _My trainer's daughter, who is as my own sleeps in the raft I pull. She alone survived the storm that destroyed her ship."_

" _A human?"_

" _I am a Son of Cerulean Cape, and I declare she is as my own."_ It was stretching things, he knew. But there was a –

" _Very well. She is now one of ours. Has she a name?"_

" _Misty. She was born Misty of Cerulean."_

" _Then she is now Misty of Seafoam. So we declare and so shall we witness to this world."_

" _And so shall I witness to the world beyond."_

And with that, Seaking was swallowed, the rope attaching him to the rubber dingy severed cleanly by the bite.

* * *

Lance just stared at the carnage before him. An entire city block in the middle of downtown Goldenrod, _shattered_. The building the now-defunct organization had been operating out of simply _gone_.

And walking towards him with steady gait through the flaming wreckage, Samuel Oak.

"Professor…"

"Save the lecture Lance. Save it for the day when _your_ student loses everything she has on your doorstep while racing to beg for your help."

"…Actually I was going to ask you to call me next time. I never met Delia, but Jack was a friend."

* * *

" _Look, if you guys are gonna eat me, couldja at least kill me first?"_ the poliwhirl's actions betrayed his words, eyes scanning for an escape route.

Until he saw a splash of red in the middle of a pile of sleeping magikap that was decidedly the wrong shade.

" _You fools."_ It was barely whispered. As if realizing the dissonance between decibels and import, the poliwhirl repeated himself, increasing the former by an order of magnitude, _"You_ _ **fools**_ _! There will be no safe place for miles after this! You do_ _ **not**_ _hunt human children! Quick, help me get her back to them before we're all dead!"_

There was a cackling laugh, _"I take it my grandchildren failed to explain then? The humans have no claim on the girl, she is one of ours by the rite of the forgotten shoal."_

The poliwhirl stilled at that. _"I… I see. Well, actually I don't, but that's not the point. I take it I'm_ _ **not**_ _about to get eaten then?"_

" _No. you see, while we are doing our level best to raise her well, the school is aware that there are things we simply don't know how to teach our Misty – for one thing, how to walk."_

" _Huh, you're actually raising the kid. Completely I mean – plenty of pokemon colonies have half-adopted human children they basically babysit, but… Who'da thunk, another one."_

" _Another one?"_

" _Right, you probably wouldn't have heard this far out. I'm actually from a bit a little north of that volcano to the west, and apparently there's another human kid near the coast being raised by pokemon."_

" _The same as here?"_

" _Pretty much. In the forest near a town on the coast. I think he's technically being raised by some of the local Pikachu, but to hear the stories, he's basically the whole forest's kid."_

" _Interesting. Do you think you could lead some of our number there to arrange a meeting? It would be good for her to have a friend like her, even if distance would only permit them to see each other so often."_

" _Shouldn't be a problem. There's this one huge river that's supposed to run through the area he's in, think there's even a couple gyarados living up that way, so shouldn't be too hard to travel."_

* * *

The spearow laughed as the relatively weak Thundershock splashed off him. _"Tingly."_ He fixed the older of the two pichu he'd cornered with a look. _"A few years and an evolution, you'd be real dangerous. Unfortunately, right now you're prey. Shame you're not bigger."_

Which was when he got hit in the chest by a decently sized rock. _"So how 'bout me?"_

The spearow moved to make a flashy retort, but paused as his chest twinged where he'd been hit. _"You… are only_ _ **just**_ _too much trouble to count as prey. Congratulations, you live."_

It didn't occur to the spearow until he'd flown away that the human boy had been speaking the same language as the rest of them.

* * *

" _You're complaining he kept his sibling from being eaten?"_

" _Arceus no, I'm just worried. He keeps picking fights."_

" _Never any he can't win though."_

" _It's only a matter of time."_

" _Even if he doesn't, you have to admit he'll get a reputation eventually. We need to prepare him for when they come for him."_

" _And for when he leaves. I know the rest of you don't like to talk about it, but he's going to have to re-enter the human world eventually – peripherally at the very least – if for no other reason than to find a mate. He needs to be able to interact with them, and we haven't been preparing him for that."_

"… _so …we need to find some pokemon who can teach him how to fight without access to attacks, and we need the most trustworthy human we can find to teach him how to… well, how to human."_

* * *

Professor Oak gave a wry smile as he trudged up the hill. If he hadn't started training again, he'd probably be gasping for air right now.

The smile turned into a grimace as he recalled exactly _why_ he'd resumed said training.

He froze as he finally reached the clearing the Pikachu had been leading him to. After a moment, he realized he was staring and shook his head, chiding himself. He'd already been thinking about Delia, and a passing resemblance in the boy before him meant he'd jumped to an impossible conclusion. He'd thought he was past this part of the grieving, maybe he needed to give Agatha a call, see if she could help him make sure there was nothing left he could do. He might be able to move on then.

Regardless, he needed to focus on the present.

The boy seemed to be five or six, and was looking at him curiously. Still, he didn't seem to be _afraid_ of Oak per say, and he took the outstretched hand with a mix of hesitation and shyness. "Hello there, I'm Professor Samuel Oak. What's your name?"

The boy made some kind of sound, but it definitely wasn't a name. "Ahhhhhhh, can't talk? Well that's alright, I should still be able to help get you to your parents anyway."

The professor started to lead the boy out of the clearing, but stopped when he found the way blocked. The two pair of pikachu who had led him here had been joined by a second female and all three were glaring at him with sparking cheeks. Additionally they were being backed up by a marill, and he didn't particularly fancy being shocked while wet. "I, ah, take it you don't want me to leave?"

There was no direct response, but the pokemon seemed to calm slightly. Ah yes, he had forgotten the… joy… that these guessing games could be. Sometimes it seemed one's skill with pokemon directly correlated to one's skill at 20 Questions.

"So am I a prisoner then?" A head shake from the male pikachu. Alright, presumably that meant he simply couldn't leave _yet_.

"You need me to do something then?" Yes.

"Is it related to the boy?" Yes.

"You need me to find his parents." No?

"You need me to find his family?" Sparking said definitely not. He'd thought it might be the phrasing, but… hold on.

"Do you need me to get him _away_ from his family?"

 _That_ got a reaction. The boy behind him whimpered and pulled his hand from the old man's grasp. He was halfway to the far side of the clearing before Oak had turned around.

The boy likely would have already bolted, but one of the female pikachu had cut him off with what looked like Agility.

As he watched, the pokemon calmed and comforted… no, he realized, she was _mothering_ the boy. He'd heard about this before naturally, but he'd never witnessed it directly.

"I'm not supposed to take the boy with me when I leave, am I?" No, of course not. He didn't even need a response to that question.

He could see it now, the weathered-but-almost-clean clothes that had been patched with several kinds of string shot, the naturally silent steps in the middle of a forest, the curious gaze – as if he'd never seen another human before – when the professor arrived, and above all, the _**understanding**_ that was obvious between boy and pokemon.

He was _Theirs_.

"So what am I here for?"

As if in response, a farfetch'd landed next to him with a… no, with _his_ medical bag.

Ah, that then.

He wasn't sure how these wild pokemon knew – presumably some trainer's pokemon had told them – but a part of the licensing for sponsoring trainers and giving out starters included a requirement that he be able to perform at least a basic pediatric medical check-up.

Oak wasn't necessarily qualified to be a medical doctor himself, but he could at least verify if and when the boy actually needed one.

Twenty minutes later, he was closing the bag back up. "Well, he's basically healthy. He'll need some immunizations, but I can bring those out here later once I get them. I'll also give you some vitamin supplements for him once we get back to my lab. That should balance out any dietary deficiencies. Was there anything else you needed me for?"

His answer was another item.

Specifically, a book entitled _Reading with Phonics_.

"Ah… yes, that hadn't occurred to me. You… do realize that teaching him to speak, read, and write won't be a simple one-time thing? I'll probably need to see him weekly – though it could be as scarcely as monthly or as often as daily – for a few years at least. And he'll need to keep practicing even when I'm not around."

A brief conversation that he was the only one present not to understand, and then a round of nods. "Alright then. I'll need a few things from my lab and its fairly late in the day. Should I meet you here tomorrow?"

The male Pikachu shook his head and waved his tail twice. Two days.

"The day after tomorrow?" Oak verified. He'd long ago learned to make sure everything was confirmed in these conversations. For one thing, fewer misunderstandings meant he was able to help better.

He also got the feeling that in this situation it would mean him getting zapped less.

* * *

The pikachu both nodded at the trio of gyarados and their poliwhirl guide. The female spoke for both, _"I think he'd definitely enjoy having a friend like him. We're sorry he couldn't be here for you to meet him yourselves."_

" _Still, from what the locals told us on our way up here he seems like a decent kid. What's got him busy though?"_

" _Well if we'd known you were coming we'd have made arrangements, but he's on the far side of the forest now with the rest of the family. A human that we trust has been helping him learn how to talk like they do."_

" _Really?"_

" _Yes, it took us some time to decide, but in the end we felt that he needed to be able to function in the human world as well as ours."_

" _That… makes a lot of sense. Damn, I can't believe we overlooked that for Misty. We'll have to mention that to the elder when we get back."_

" _By the way, will you be going with them poliwhirl?"_

" _Well, the kid's walking now. I should probably be there to teach her how swimming with limbs works, but we'll want to wait until summer for that, so I've got a month or two, why?"_

" _Well, we might have a request, but first we really need to ask; How are you at hand-to-hand combat?"_

* * *

" _Do you really have to leave so soon?"_

" _I've been here_ _ **just**_ _long enough to realize that I'm not good enough to teach him. Also, Spring's ending early this year, which means there's a girl I need to teach how to swim over the nnext few weeks."_

" _Do you know any poliwraths then? Anybody who can teach him?"_

" _Honestly I think you're overcomplicating this. With all the pokemon at the old man's ranch, I'm sure there'll be at least one or two fighting types who could help."_

* * *

He stared as the other human got out of the water. Sure, his parents had told him that he'd be meeting a new friend who was like him, but actually _meeting_ her…

" _Hi, I'm Misty of Seafoam."_

" _Hi Misty, I'm Ash of the Forest."_

* * *

"I'm sorry Samuel."

The professor smiled sadly. It was for this very reason that he'd put off calling her for so long. "Don't apologize Agatha, if anything this might help me find the closure I apparently still need. You… are sure though?"

"Yes. The Spirits found no Ash Ketchum among the living. If it helps, that baby hair you gave me didn't call any lost souls, so the remains were at least handled properly."

* * *

Samuel was broken from his musings when his latest student arrived. He started to greet the boy – who had yet to give his name – but stopped when he noticed someone else behind him.

The child of the forest followed the old man's gaze to the girl behind him and smiled. "Friend." He said, looking at Oak and pointing at the girl, "Like Me. You Teach?"

It took the professor a few moments to parse the sentence (Most of which was spent on realizing what "Like Me" meant in context.). The speech was broken, not even on par with his apparent age group, but not bad for seven months of talking.

His verbal response: "Of course, will she be joining us every time from now on, or only every so often?"

His mental response: "Shit. They don't have the usual social constraints, so now I have to figure out when it would be appropriate to teach sex ed."

* * *

" _Okay,"_ Hitmonlee sat up stiffly and located the Hitmonchan and Machoke who had also been caught in the blast. _"What did the kid just hit us with? Anybody?"_

" _Bad day."_ Hitmonchan threw an arm over his face as he lay on his back.

" _I recognize it,"_ Machoke spoke up, _"My trainer's in Sinnoh right now, and they've got something that looks kinda like that down there called Aura. Pretty sure that was the undeveloped version. I'm up to rotate back into the team next week, none of the pokemon at the ranch can help him with this, but some of the ones down there might be able to. Don't worry,"_ He turned to the human's adoptive parents, _"I'll be discrete. I know the rules, I'll keep the secret. If I do manage to find anyone who'll help, I'll send them to the lab. You can make a decision from that."_

The male pikachu nodded, _"He needs at least enough training to control it, otherwise he might hurt himself. It's the same as with young pichu, you have to teach them how to channel their inner lightning or they end up hurting themselves. And unfortunately you're right, none of the pokemon we know can teach him this. Just… please, be careful."_

* * *

"This clubhouse. Storm shelter too. Rain last all night, you use her bed – that one. She no mind."

"Thank you. For helping me out there and for this. What's your name?"

"…Better no tell. Secret. Get back ask Oak. I show way in morning."

"Well I need to call you _some_ thing."

"Make then… what word… N… Nick-name?"

"Okay, how about… Yellow!"

"What?"

"Well, you're wearing a yellow shirt, and you've got a yellow pikachu with you.."

"Okay… call me Yellow. What you name?"

"Serena."

* * *

The raichu stumbled backwards, reviewing the situation. The pikachu had gotten back to his feet, but was paying more attention to that female pichu he hadn't been able to finish with than he was to him.

The annoying part was that he could afford to because of the human between them. Who apparently had Lightningrod. And had already taken out his left eye with the sharp end of the Stick he was holding.

The raichu used the present stalemate for a moment of thought, the turned and fled.

" _And where do you think you're –"_

" _Ash! She's bleeding! Believe me, I wanna gut the bastard too, but…"_

"… _Right where do we take her?"_

" _The nest's closer… but the ranch has better equipment."_

" _They're the same way for a bit. I'll carry her, you run ahead and get one of our parents, we can let them decide."_

" _And if I can't find them?"_

Ash bit his lip for a moment. _"The ranch. I can't tell how bad she's hurt, we might not be able to move her twice."_

The fact that not surviving the longer trip would mean there was nothing they could do anyway went unsaid by both.

* * *

"I'm back Gramps!"

"Oh, Gary, there you are. I'd been looking for you."

"Sorry. I went exploring and got a little lost."

"Ah. Well, looks like you found your way back alright."

"About that… There was this other kid. Talked kinda funny, but he showed me the way back. I'd never met him before though."

"Ahah. I was wondering if he might introduce himself to you, given how much time you've spent here lately."

"Who is he?"

"He actually still hasn't told me his name, but you're not the first young person he's helped find their way back to town. One of the others started calling him Yellow though, and he'll answer to it."

* * *

" _So what are you again?"_

" _I am a Lucario."_

" _Sorry, I just –"_

" _No need to apologize, we are not often seen this far south. Or even in this region. Itactually took me almost six months to get here from my home."_

" _Officially I'm here because my kin and I received word of a youth powerful with Aura in this area."_

" _And unofficially?"_

" _I'm a member of my kingdom's noble court who has been quietly exiled following an embarrassing scandal."_

" _Really? I don't mean to pry, but –"_

" _But you need to make this interrogation seem like a natural conversation and playing the part of the local busybody serves that end. I understand completely."_

" _Eheh… heh…"_

" _Worry not, I take no offence. As I said, I understand. Aura alone would make any youth possessed of it a target. To answer your question though, I had a… dalliance was the word the old farts used the most. With a Zoroark that was travelling with a trainer. Bad enough that I polluted my bloodline with that of a dark type, and an illusionist at that, but then he and his trainer – who'd managed with one of the local girls what his pokemon had managed with me – ran off, leaving both the females they'd impregnated high and dry. When I refused to let them take away my egg, I compounded the dishonor further and branded myself a pariah. Honestly if there's no aura sensitive here its fine, I'm just want somewhere quiet to raise the child who should be hatching soon."_

" _I see."_ The lucario looked up to see a pikachu had arrived. _"I assume the egg is in the bag then?"_ She asked.

The lucario nodded, shifting unconsciously to remind herself that the weight of the drawsting backpack was still there. _"Yes. My unborn child is the only thing I truly had need to carry – I was able to forage for food along the way – so the bag met my needs."_

" _I see…"_ the pikachu repeated, lost in thought for a moment before nodding as she apparently decided. _"Walk with me and talk with me. Let's see if we can't find at least one of the two things you came here for."_

* * *

"May, Max, run into the forest. Vigoroth, you go with them. Stay with them and keep them safe."

"But –"

"No! No arguing on this one. They already got your mother, I'm not letting them get the two of you. Now go, all three of you. And… no matter how long it takes, you stay in that forest until I come for you, understand?"

"I…"

"Do you understand May?"

"Yes Daddy…"

Norman watched as his pokemon led his children into the woods, regretting that he had insisted on moving _now_ instead of next year like his wife had wanted.

The man let that regret power his fighting as he did his best to contain the fallout of a criminal organization tearing itself in two. Nine months later, the remnants of the two factions would rechristen themselves Aqua and Magma.

* * *

"Professor, what's a pokemon trainer?"

…

Marill sighed and looked to the other mothers in her nest, "In hindsight, we really should have seen this coming."

Ash was excitedly explaining to his brother how as soon as they were old enough they were going to go on a journey, make a bunch of friends, and fix things all over the world. The pikachu in question wasn't quite as enthused, but their sister was staring at the both of them starry-eyed. The little pichu idolized her brothers, and was totally convinced that they could go out and change the world so nobody ever had to get hurt again.

* * *

Lance felt his heart sink as he peeked around the corner. He had been hoping to disprove the rumors that a school of gyarados was taking humans, but… wait, the girl they had right now was moving. She was still alive.

There was no time for planning, the pokeball was in the air as quick as a thought. "Dragonite, Thunder!"

The move wasn't terribly accurate, but aiming wasn't exactly a major concern at present. Of the dozens of gyarados gathered in one portion of the chamber, two dropped instantly and three more were hit hard. Lance made his decision quickly, even as he raced forward, trying to cover ground as quickly as possible: Aerodactyl would be at a severe disadvantage, and friendly fire would be too much of a danger for Gyarados in a horde fight like this. Still, he needed to keep something in reserve that would be helpful here… only one of the dragonairs was released to support his heaviest hitter.

A half dozen more gyarados went down in short order, but then… something changed. It was like nothing he'd ever seen before, the wild pokemon formed up and started mounting an _organized defense_. Not even just the gyarados – he'd really have expected it from a single school like that – but other pokemon as well. A contingent of horsea and seadra, led by a _king_ dra of all things. Seaking and goldeen would pop up to deliver an attack and then vanish back into the water that he only now realized was far deeper than it looked. Tentacool and tentacruel were similarly making nuisances of themselves, taking every opportunity to slip in a poisonous attack. And any time his pokemon tried to get some distance by rising, they were forced down by the swarms of zubat and golbat infesting the shadows above.

Still, a stalemate meant time to think things through, and his pokemon were more than capable of maintaining against these odds for the time being.

And then everything went sideways.

At first, when Dragonite's most recent Thunder was dragged away to the left, he assumed it was another goldeen or seaking with lightningrod, but his eyes still tracked it out of habit anyway. He took a moment to process what he saw when he did though.

"What. The. Hell." Said the boy. He had apparently just arrived in the company of a half-dozen gyarados, a pikachu, a poliwhirl, and… was that a lucario? "How did a poacher even _get_ this far?"

Any confusion at the nature of the question was quickly shelved. As it happened, a moment's time to process was a moment too long, as the boy – not the pokemon who were with him – exploded into motion. Dragonite was caught off guard too as the human delivered a chain of blows that bore a suspicious resemblance to a Close Combat attack.

The dragon was forced back a step by surprise and gave another so he could regroup. As he came back swinging with elemental punches however, he was again surprised – not only was the child unflinching as fire and ice passed within inches of his face, but he was simply weaving around the strikes – though he _was_ giving ground to do so. After a few seconds of this, Dragonite dispelled the Fire Punch from his right hand and switched to a Thunder Punch in the hopes a glancing blow might paralyze the kid without hurting him.

And that was where things went _weird._ The boy wove around another Ice Punch and then stepped _forward_. From inside Dragonite's guard, he reached out and grabbed the electricity covered limb. Before his opponent could even register that, he had spun on his feet, and turned himself into a fulcrum for the now over-extended Dragonite.

In truth, it wasn't so much the throw he was going for as the large dragon tripping over him, and it didn't do much itself. However, the Ice Beams from some of the more battle-scarred gyarados, supporting Dragon Rages from the majority of the rest, and the Dragon Pulse from the kingdra thrown in for good measure had significantly more effect.

Still, Lance's Dragonite wasn't as famous as he was for nothing. The pseudo-legendary picked himself up, charging a pair of ice punches – still determined to put this kid down without hurting him.

And then the lucario struck.

It growled at the human while it used Close Combat to amplify the Force Palms it was slamming home. Dragonite's eyes widened in shock as the boy growled back, but after that he was too busy trying to erode the advantage that momentary lapse had given his opponent.

The boy meanwhile made another move – this time for Lance himself. With the tide quickly turning against him, he released his second dragonair, and, when she found herself busy with the pokemon who had come with the boy, he released his aerodactyl as well. Both calls for reinforcements cost him though – he was barely keeping ahead of the boy when he could bring all his focus to bear.

"Come on! How'd a poacher get all these rare pokemon to help him?"

Lance blinked as that registered. "Poacher?"

 _WHAM!_

This time, it was a throw.

* * *

Bruno opened his door, understandably curious about who was knocking. Not many people knew about his mountain cabin after all, and most of them would have called ahead.

He blinked in surprise at who was there. "Lance… what the hell happened to you?"

"You remember I went to check on rumors that a school of gyarados were hunting humans?"

"Yes…"

"The rumors are false. Apparently the gyarados of the Seafoam Islands have been taking care of a human girl for years."

"And so you attacked what turned out to be their nest, they took exception, and this happened."

"Actually… no. It was a pretty even fight until another human showed up – apparently a friend of theirs."

"Oh? Tell me about this trainer who was strong enough to get past your team and do this to you. I think I might seek them out."

"…Bruno… there's no easy way for me to say this. I just got my ass handed to me by a nine-year old boy who thought I was a poacher. You know more about fighting than anyone I know, what do I need to fix."

Bruno stilled at that. "…A child you say? You underestimated him."

"Not hardly, I had just watched him use hand-to-hand to outmaneuver Dragonite."

"…I see… the boy had an unusual connection to the pokemon, didn't he?"

"Yes, him and the girl both."

"…Tell me, were any fighting types present?"

"N… Yes. A lucario showed up when he did."

"And his fighting, was it inhuman, or merely ludicrously skillfull?"

"Ah… the latter. He handled a Thunder Punch without the electricity even phasing him, but with the way he was avoiding ice and fire I'm guessing that was a skill."

"Or and ability… You're sure there was no blue light show?"

"Only from the lucario, why?"

"No, that doesn't… but maybe…" Bruno looked up. "His connection to the pokemon, was it just the lucario, or all of them?"

"…All of them I think. Bruno, is there a point to this?"

"Yes." At first Lance though it was an answer before he realized his friend had become lost in thought again. "Yes, that would do it." The fighter's attention returned to the dragon master. "Tell me Lance, fighting him, did it remind you of me?"

"No, not at all. You have plenty of skill Bruno, don't get me wrong, but I've seen you go at it, you focus on strength. This kid was all speed and precision, raw skill."

"Yes, that would definitely happen if one started that young. Pure power isn't an option, so he compensated. Lance, there is a threshold you will have to cross to get better than you are now – a painful one at that. It is one I have crossed myself, and I suspect it is one this mysterious boy has crossed as well. I've seen you fight too, and the fact of the matter is that the only thing left for you to do is open yourself up to a… different variety of opponent."

"And where would I find these opponents?"

"Well, I would let you ask some of mine, but that might not be a good idea until you and your style have both grown into the new level. So I'd have to say to start with the ones on your belt."

Lance gaped at him.

"I did say it was going to be painful."

* * *

" _It's hard to believe its been two weeks since he got here."_

" _Ash has that effect on things."_ Misty smile at the Elder as he swam up to her.

" _Indeed he does. Just looking at the way he's helped you says volumes."_

" _What do you mean?"_

" _Misty… When this place was your whole world, you hid your insecurities well. But since you met that boy I have not seen you worry about fitting in even once."_ He chortled at her surprise, _"And I suspect the two of you are going to have at least one conversation in the near future about minnows and krill, and possibly even looking at currents and hunting grounds."_

He cut off her blushing protest with an even louder laugh. _"Don't worry, I've already seen enough to know what's there. I'm not so old to have gone blind – though I may have seen it even then. Whenever you decide, know that you have my approval and blessing – again, I'm not fool enough to believe you'd wait for permission or want it, so I won't give you that._

" _It does make what I have to say next a bit easier though… Misty, my Misty… Little Misty… I have watched you grow for years, and daresay I've been the one in the school most like a parent to you… which is why I wanted to handle this myself._

" _Ash is leaving tomorrow, back to his home. I want you to go with him. He's planning to leave on his human journey come spring, and it was already planned for you to be with him until then… Now, you will simply be with him longer."_

Misty looked startled at that. _"Elder? I… I don't understand, am I being banished?"_

" _No! Absolutely not! Misty, you aren't_ _ **capable**_ _of the kind of things that would warrant that. But… I've been in discussions these past two weeks, with the other senior members of the school, as well as the elders of the other colonies. Misty… we would have lost that fight, with that older human. Had Ash not shown up when he did, the stalemate would have broken, and not in our favor."_

" _And I'm the reason he was here."_

" _I won't insult your intelligence by pretending it didn't come up. But the deciding reason was that this will let you realize your potential better."_

" _What do you mean?"_

" _Humans… they can be truly awe-inspiring sometimes. After all, just one of them matched our entire alliance. But to grow fully, you need incredible amounts of space – ideally, the entire world. And_ _ **that**_ _is why we're sending you away, so that you can grow into your potential and then come back stronger than any of us could ever imagine – likely with a group of powerful allies as well."_

" _Wait… are you saying what I think you're saying?"_

" _Indeed I am. When Ash leaves on his journey, you are to go with him. You are to travel with him, train with him, grow with him, battle with him, and learn with him. But more than that – which I somehow suspect you might have done anyway – you are_ _ **also**_ _to be a pokemon trainer. This journey is for your own sake as much as for his."_

" _You… you really think I can?"_

" _My dear child, I believe that someday the whole world will feel your wake."_

* * *

Celebi sighed. Whoever had sent that message from the future detailing what Ash would be capable of had been thorough beyond belief. There was no way to undo the message without – in the best case – triggering another ice age. So she had had to correct for the differences.

No matter how sick it made her to have Janice's mother fall ill so the girl would retire early and release her pokemon at the right place and time. Or get the Waterflower parents into position to win a free three hour tour as a door prize. Or cause the accident that led to the Petalburg Gym having a vacancy earlier than it otherwise would have. Or manipulate Archie and Maxie into having their final insurmountable difference of opinion crop up a year early and then _deliberately maneuver Caroline_ so that Norman would be desperate enough to send his children away to keep them safe.

And she still had to do almost all of his later companions. Though at least some would, like Brock, be best left where they were to gain what they needed to help. That was some small comfort at least.

When the time came to do what she now knew she had to do to Dawn though… Celebi was definitely going to need a lot of alcohol after that one. She just hoped she'd be able to down enough on her first try to knock herself out – tipsy time travelers were a very bad thing, which was why she usually avoided the substance like the plague.

Still… After they saved her in Sinnoh, she felt she would have to explain everything… and beg for their judgement. Dawn definitely got first claim on killing her, followed by Max, considering what she'd _already_ done to him, and then… she sighed again as she realized exactly how long of a list she was going to have to make.

She sat there for a moment, silently trying to will a dozen or so blue boxes – or at least one – into existence around her. After a good bit of fruitless waiting, she decided she'd simply have to make do with the little mattress a kind child had placed in the nearest time shrine.

* * *

As Gary Oak stood drinking in the adulation of his fans, basking in the glory of being a brand new pokemon trainer, he was scanning the crowd. All of the noise and people seemed to fall away though, as he caught a familiar set of brown eyes.

The eyes were part of an equally familiar boy, who was leaning on a fence with a girl who was nearly as familiar. The surprise he felt was natural – both of them were reclusive at the best of times, and he hadn't seen either one in two months. They had never even told him if they planned on befriending some of the other local kids after he left.

As such, his guard slipped – though not enough to keep him from wincing guiltily as the name slipped unbidden from his lips. "Yellow?"

* * *

 **A/N: There was a foreword, but after I lost count of how many times my computer and the site conspired to erase it, I decided to take a hint.**

 **Some ground rules for this story that I'm going to be keeping myself to:**

 **Ash... wasn't raised as a human. Not entirely. And that's only the largest difference between him and canon Ash. That said, he's still gonna be the same basic person. The reason I highlighted what I did here though... I'm not sure how to make this both delicate and clear (Especially given how much I want to avoid spoilers), but he grew up without the effects of human culture. His contact with humans other than Misty and Professor Oak was _severely_ limited, and the Professor... he wasn't an additional parent for Ash, he was a teacher. He knew full well that Ash was living in a world where human culture didn't exist and trying to live by its rules might be a liability. And quite frankly it wasn't his place to decide what rules Ash lived by.**

 **So he taught Ash (and Misty) basic skills - talking, reading, writing, math, elementary sciences - and he gave him a full knowledge of his own biology since nobody else in Ash's life would have been able to, And yes, he did teach Ash about human culture in little ways, but it was always Ash looking in on humanity from the front window. Human culture was never his. Where I'm going with this: The premise of this story makes it essentially unavoidable that Ash, not having the same ingrained cultural mindsets as other humans, sees things differently and makes different decisions.**

 **I'm going to say it right now, some of those decisions are going to make people uncomfortable.**

 **That's _not_ to say that I'm going to go out of my way to make the readers uncomfortable, because I won't. I just don't want to get four regions in and have people start freaking out because Ash's decisions don't make sense to them, or he takes things further than a kid his age would.**

 **Which brings me to my next point, yes, he is ten at the start of this. And yes, he will age, though not as much as most people and cultures will feel he should for the kinds of things he's going to be doing.**

 **Also bear in mind that all of the above applies to Misty as well, it was just simpler to write one name.**

 **Yes, Brock will be joining them in Pewter, as will all of the travelling companions at their appointed times. No, we won't be seeing any more of them until they do, I just needed to lay some groundwork for the changes you're going to see.**

 **Ash will be catching all of the pokemon he had in canon, though the circumstances will change slightly on a few. He will also be picking up a few extras here and there. He will _not_ be completeing the pokedex. He will be picking up a few Legendaries. He will _not_ be picking up _every_ Legendary. His battling style will be less straightforward and more experienced and effective at first, but he will eventually grow into the same crazy "off-the-wall" methods he's known for. Team Rocket will largely be responsible for this, as I hold they are in canon. (He's so terrible in league matches because over 90% of his combat experience is in situations where _there are no rules._ )**

 **Speaking of Jessie, James, and Meowth, they'll be here, don't worry. Their roles however... The fact is, they're undersold, primarilly because of Ash. There is a definitive case to be made that they are some of if not _the_ top operatives Team Rocket has. I'm simply going to show that. They will also be picking up one or two new faces along the way.**

 **Ash will be keeping his identity quiet, but it won't be some big secret. From his point of view, if any of the people who tried to kill him hear about him, it'll be after he's ready to take care of himself. I will say that he's underestimating their spies. I will also say that... someone else isn't.**

 **On the subject of Ash underestimating people, yes, Ash will lose some fights.**

 **Finally, fighting. Yes, Ash knows how to fight, no, he's not an Aura Guardian. Not yet at least. He's just starting right now, and while he can pull off some attacks, they're mostly things humans are capable of anyway (Karate Chop, Low Kick, Close Combat). He does know force palm, but hasn't yet made the breakthrough to learning Aura Sphere. Like in other areas, and just like his pokemon, Ash has room to grow and he's going to use it.**

 **Tangentially connected to that last point is a rule that's going to be softer than the others. It's one that he breaks in canon at least once a region anyway, so I can't be too hardnosed about it, but I want this to feel as parallel as possible. In battles, Ash will primarilly be sticking to things that were available at the time he used them in canon.**

 **In other words, no using Steel Wing and Iron Tail to sweep Pewter. I've seen that done a good dozen times, and none of them pulled it off without cheapening the entire thing.**

 **So yes, its a soft rule, and the only one listed here that I'm going to break, but there will always be a story-driven reason for it when I do.**

 **So now that my rules are out of the way, I want to say something about updates. They'll probably come in waves. There's a reason for this. Some of you might be following one of my other stories, and if you are, then you know that those tend to deal primarilly with rather heavy subject matter (Sometimes handled rather farcically, but still). While this story will deal with serious and heavy things (see current body count) it will be primarilly lighthearted and slightly less serious. Largely because of perspective differences, typical stakes, and camera focus, but still.**

 **Basically, this is the story that I'll be focusing on when I get blocked on my others; which will hopefully work better than the last time I tried it due to the different tone.**

 **Anyway, thanks to anybody still reading.**

 **~NPP-VI**


	2. Chapter 1 - The Road to the Beginning

"Yellow?" Gary winced even as the word slipped out.

The designated boy however simply smiled at him. "Hey Gary."

"You… Did you come all the way out here just to see me off?"

Yellow rubbed the back of his neck with a sheepish laugh. "Eheh… Umm… Actually we're starting our journeys today too." His eyes suddenly widened and shone. "Hey, is that your partner? Which one did you go with!?"

Gary's grin widened as he raised the pokéball that was in his hand. "Only the best one for me of course. I went with…" And then he paused. It has been noted on dozens of occasions across thousands of timelines that Ash Ketchum rapidly accelerates the growth of those he comes into contact with. For this particular iteration of reality, this was the first such event. You see, for the first time in his life, Gary Oak had the urge… to stop bragging. It was limited in scope of course, (as you're about to see) but still, progress.

"No." The pokéball was shrunk and placed on Gary's belt.

"Gary?"

"No. Not yet. Someday Yellow, you and I are gonna have a battle. And when that day comes I'll show you, but until then? I'm gonna hold onto every advantage I can, and I want you to do the same. Yellow… You've always been my friend, but now… Will you be my Rival too?"

The capital letter was audible. As it should have been. The pokéraised boy knew what the word meant in context – just about everyone who even gave pokémon training a cursory glance did. Oh, there were minor variations here and there, but ultimately every definition came back to one thing.

One Who Makes You Grow.

He took the offered hand. "Rivals it is."

Gary glanced over at the girl. He didn't know her as well, didn't even have a pseudonym for her like he did Yellow. Still… "And you. You get strong too. And try to keep our idiot friend from getting himself killed. I look forward to battling you someday."

She simply nodded, and that was okay. That was all that was needed. Besides, this was _his_ moment for spotlights and speeches. Which reminded him…

And the compulsion to gloat was back. "People of Pallet, hear me! Today, everything changes! Today, nothing is the same! Today, the future turns! For today, this day, is the day to which they will look back. The day that we set out, we who will change the world. The day our journeys began.

"Hear me, for I know each trainer whose journey begins here today, and I say to you, we will be remembered! Years from now, they will look back and talk about the group of trainers who came out of a small town nobody had ever heard of and suddenly made that town the most important in the world. Generations from now, when they teach history in the schools, there will be one chapter in the book that makes all pay attention. The one they've been looking forward to, the group they grew up hearing bedtime stories about. And centuries hence, when we are more dust than memory, still will a story be told in whispers, a myth, a legend, us.

"The Trainers of Pallet!"

At some point in the speech, Gary had climbed up so he stood on the back seat of his convertible. At the last declaration he had raised his arm, pointing to the sky. And now he let that arm drop, indicating the direction he was drawn to, destined for. The one that fell from his lips with as much meaning as the entirety of the rest of his speech.

"Onward."

As the car receded into the distance, Professor Oak idly remarked to the only two individuals remaining outside his lab, "I blame his father for the dramatics, but it's really his mother's verbosity that sells it." He shook his head with a gentle chuckle. "Well, come on you two; let's get you on your way."

* * *

"Thank you again for understanding the situation with your friends."

The pair of ten-year-olds following him traded a glance. "Not sure understanding's the right word."

"Acceptance then. In all fairness, I don't fully understand why it takes longer to register a starter than it does a new trainer myself." He slowed as they reached their destination.

Three pokéballs sat on a pedestal in the center of the room. To one side was a computer terminal, a pair of pokédexes slotted into charging/data ports. Along the back wall was a series of shelves, and it was to these that Professor Oak strode. He took down a shoebox, removed a pokéball, checked it for something, and then tossed it to Yellow. A second ball was then retrieved and tossed to Misty.

Ash expanded the ball then triggered the release mechanism the way the professor had taught him. He grinned as his brother materialized. Said grin faded as he was zapped.

" _If you ever stick me in that thing again, so help me I will have_ Pichu _deliver a full guilt trip. And then I. Will. End. You."_

Yellow's eyes widened and he turned on the older human. "You told me it was safe for them to go in these!"

Oak blinked before catching on. "Oh, I see. Yes, on rare occasion – something approaching one in every five hundred thousand – you will get a pokémon who is decidedly uncomfortable with their ball. For the rest it's just some mild disorientation and that only on the first time or two. Give me just a moment and I'll note it on Pikachu's information."

The little mouse's preference was duly input. It was then confirmed that the shellder Misty had befriended did not feel the same way. The water type was thus returned while the electric type took up a position on Ash's shoulder. "Alright, that only leaves two things. We can do the blood samples in a bit – don't worry, you don't need to wait for the full analysis." (He would later wonder whether he should regret that or not.) "But before that, what names do you want me to use?"

"Misty," The redhead spoke up, "Misty of Seafoam."

The Professor nodded and typed for a moment before turning to the boy. "And you? I can just use Yellow if you still don't want to give me your real name."

Yellow though about it for a moment before shaking his head. "I'm a trainer now. I can't keep hiding any more. I need to be strong enough to face what's waiting for me."

"Not necessarily. Yes, you are a trainer now, but you're also just starting. Also, nobody said that the transition had to be instantaneous."

This was naturally met with some minor confusion. "Oh… so… what should I do then?"

"Why don't we go halfway? Just your first name?"

"Alright then; my name… is Ash."

"Okay… Ash… of… Pallet… and… done!" Oak beamed and removed the two pokédexes from the terminal. He held them out to the two pokéraised trainers along with their pokéballs. "Here you are, now just give me a moment to get the equipment and we can take those blood samples and send you on your way."

* * *

Ash, Pikachu, and Misty were running.

Why were they running you ask? Well, the answer to that is both simple and complex. You see, it started several years back. Ash's adoptive parents were part of a coalition of sorts. Various groups whose combined territory essentially amounted to the forest southwest of Pallet. The entire area _west_ of Pallet however belonged with ever-increasing exclusivity to a militant flock of purist spearow.

Some years back one of these spearow had decided that a small pichu might make for a good lunch. Ash had dissuaded him of the notion. The two groups had been in something of a cold war since.

The North was largely left untouched. Mostly fields, and what wasn't was human roads. All around more trouble than it was worth. So nobody had really bothered with it.

And then politics happened.

You see, one particular spearow had decided he was just one big power play away from taking control of the flock. All he really needed was something big, flashy, and impressive _looking_. And the only thing resembling an upside that the northern area had was that it was big.

It was just poor timing that the invasion arrived as the trio was passing through. It was just a matter of course that our heroes were recognized. It was just bad decision making skills that led to Pikachu knocking the ringleader out of the sky… shortly before the rest of the invasion force crested the tree line.

And yes, it was absolutely terrible planning that had them that close to said tree line to begin with.

And so, Ash and Misty were sprinting north – retreat had already been cut off – as fast as they could, while Pikachu was taking potshots at the birds from his position on Ash's shoulders.

At this point, they had somehow managed to find themselves running alongside a river.

"Misty, the water! Is it safe?"

"Ash, this is a terrible plan and I hate it."

"Yeah, plenty deep. I think this might actually be part of the same inlet that runs by your home."

"Great, get ready to jump!"

"You idiot."

"Now!"

Misty started, then noticed. Her attempt to abort might have worked, but Ash had already started his move. Specifically, he pushed her.

Ash's thought process should probably be noted here.

The trio had indeed been moving as fast as they could go. As a collective unit. Not to say Misty was slow, but the fact was that she had literally spent more of her life in water than on land. Additionally, Ash had been putting himself through the same training his pokémon friends went through for several years now.

In another life, he might have needed a bicycle to outpace the flock, and even in that life he would have slowly lost all concept of human limitations. His upbringing here simply meant that he never had them to begin with.

Not to say that Ash didn't have limitations, because he did. He simply had no idea of what they were supposed to be. To wit, he didn't put on a burst of Extremespeed and leave the flock behind. Instead, he put on what was objectively a rather low powered Agility, pulling ahead just slightly.

Drawing them away from the friend who had been too proud to admit she was tiring.

* * *

Again, Ash had his limits.

That point was driven home when his foot sank into the strip of mud that the rain soaked road had become. It caught a partially buried rock, and his momentum threw him and Pikachu over the butte just ahead. As he struggled to his knees, he took stock of the situation.

Pikachu had drained himself completely – past what was probably safe. He was without a doubt, too exhausted to continue fighting. Ash himself was equally tired, though more from physical exhaustion than the elemental fatigue his brother was undergoing. And the spearow flock was catching up. They had a minute at most.

"I'm sorry."

Pikachu weakly looked up at the words.

"I'm sorry Pikachu. I… I keep messing up. All our lives, I've been the screw-up brother. Even this."

"You can't blame yourself for the war. That spearow–"

"I was the one who convinced you two it was okay to play that far out. Not just that though. If we had gone into the water with Misty, we'd be fine, but no. I had to be the big hero and lead them away. And… as usual I dragged you along for the ride. You never even wanted this, I forced you into it." He drew closer. "I'm done letting you pay for my mistakes.

"Pikachu, this can't happen. I won't let it end like this." The pokéball was expanded and placed in front of the yellow guy. "Get inside. I know you don't like it, but this way you'll be safe. Please Pikachu, listen to me. Just this once, and never again, but just this once go inside. After that… After that, just trust me."

"Ash…" Pikachu knew this feeling. He was just old enough to remember his other brother. And to remember losing him.

"Spearows, do you know who I am!?" At some point Ash had managed to force himself to his feet. "I am Ash of the Forest of Pallet! I am destined to be the world's number one pokémon master. I can't be defeated by the likes of you. I'm going to capture and defeat you all, you hear me?

"Pikachu, go inside the pokéball, it's the only way." No. No way in hell. He refused.

"Come. And. Get me!" The boy who should not have been put everything he had into the challenge. Lost to those present amidst the thunder and lightning, drowned out by the wind and rain, was the subtle ripple that went through reality.

Even as the spearow dove, Pikachu was moving. He didn't have enough electricity left for any kind of attack. All he had was a half-baked plan that was somehow enough to get him racing up his brother's back and using him as a launch ramp.

A tiny tendril of electricity, too low powered to even be seen was sent up into the clouds. It served its purpose. Raw energy flashed back down the provided conduit, heeding the call. This time the ripples _were_ observed, a strange reverb effect accompanying Pikachu's declaration. "And don't forget about _me!_ "

It wasn't something a pikachu with Static should have been able to pull off. It wasn't something a pikachu with Lightningrod _could_ have pulled off. It was, in fact, only something that could have been done by a pikachu with Static who had been surrounded his entire life by pikachu with Lightningrod and needed to find a way to compensate.

It wasn't something he'd ever done before. It was the sort of thing you'd have to be insane or desperate to even consider. He'd always considered himself to be a little of the former and now fully qualified for the latter.

Lightningrod – at least in a pikachu of his age and strength – would have been overloaded, killing the user. Static however, meant that Pikachu had _hundreds_ of tiny electrical conduits running through his fur. On the outside of his body.

Which meant he was able to channel the lightning blast _around_ him, rather than _through_.

Make no mistake, the technique was far from perfect. Perhaps a full percent of the energy slipped his control, leaving him with electrical sacs that were likely severely injured by going from dead to full in an instant, and there was still enough overflow to leave electrical burns up and down his body.

That still left 99% of the storm's wrath directed at the flock that was on a zero deflection intercept course.

Their lives were saved by the blast wave. Or rather, by the split second between when the attack would have connected and when Pikachu lost control and the whole thing destabilized. Explosively.

* * *

"I'm Dexter, a pokédex programmed by Professor Oak for Pokémon Trainer Ash of the Town of Pallet. My function is to provide Ash with information and advice regarding pokémon and their training. If lost or stolen, I cannot be replaced."

…

"Sit back, hold on, and don't yell."

…

"We have a driveway you know."

…

"You can be more responsible. If you want to be a pokémon trainer young man, you don't let your pokémon battle 'til it's in _this_ condition."

"You're right… I'm sorry, I–" Whatever he had been about to say was cut off by a wince of pain as he grabbed his right shoulder.

Joy's nurturing side went to war with her protective streak. Alright, the boy was reckless and potentially unsafe, but he had also apparently injured himself trying to fix his mistake… "There won't be much for me to do until Chansey finishes the diagnosis and prep work. I've got about five minutes until then, so why don't I take a look at that shoulder?"

By the time Ash blinked the nurse had his jacket off and was examining the light burns and bruises. "This doesn't look like any attack pattern I recognize, what happened?"

"Pikachu had just barely jumped off when the lightning hit."

A lightning strike? Well, that certainly explained the damage to the pokémon. Perhaps she had been a bit harsh… "Alright, I need to see all of it to know how bad it is." And with no further warning, Ash's shirt was removed.

As the black cloth came off, Joy paled, barely registering Jenny's slight intake of breath behind her. The boy was covered in light electrical burns and mild bruising, which was expected, given what he'd said about a lightning strike. What was not expected were the _hundreds_ of scars littering his skin. Most of them were barely there at all. Only a small handful would have even been noticeable alone. And based on fading, they spanned several years.

"Excuse me." The tight control she was putting on her temper made Joy's voice come out slightly weaker than usual. "I just realized I need to bring up the medical records for you and your pikachu." She walked off briskly, Ash's pokédex in hand.

Jenny looked between the boy and the retreating nurse a few times before deciding that Ash wouldn't leave until he at least knew the outcome of his pokémon's treatment. "I need to talk to her about something real quick, so just wait here a bit. Oh, and you should probably put your shirt back on for now." The officer hurried off after her friend.

* * *

"Joy?" Jenny started reading the trainer information over the nurse's shoulder.

"He has no medical records Jenny. I don't know why that surprises me; any real doctor would have relocated him a while ago. His file says everything's up to date, but there's no history to it. It just says he's had everything. The only checkup that can actually be verified is the physical he took as part of his trainer's licensing."

"Hold on."

"Don't tell me to hold on Jenny, that boy has been–"

"Joy!"

The nurse blinked, only just noticing that she had grabbed the other woman's collar. "I… sorry."

"No, I get it. It's a kid, I'm the same way. Before you go hunting for blood though, you should probably look a bit closer."

Joy followed Jenny's finger to the top of the page. Underneath a trainer's picture on the first page of their file was a space where their name went. On the far left of that space, overlapping the bottom corner of the picture, was a pokéball. This pokéball appeared on all forms of government identification _except_ the pokédex itself, largely because it would have been redundant.

The pokéball icon appearing on identification was a designator that the individual was licensed to train pokémon. The type of ball would be used as a shorthand indicator of a trainer's skill level or specialization. That was the entirety of the official story.

There were supposedly a few other things that could be designated by the icon, for example there was a rumor that the very best breeders in the world had an egg icon instead of a nest ball. And a few conspiracy theorists held that there were some secret societies that gave their members specific icons. But ultimately that was the extent of the public story.

Ash's pokéball was, for all intents and purposes, quite unexceptional. It was in fact, the standard red and white variant available everywhere that designated that one met the minimum requirements to train pokémon. In fact, only someone who knew what they were looking for would have known what was wrong.

Ash's pokéball was sideways. And that was one of the most closely guarded secrets in the world. The Joy and Jenny clans knew of course – they had helped develop the system. Champions and members of the various Elite Four knew as well. Politicians were generally left out of the loop – they came and went a bit too frequently for something like this to be fully secure with them. Some of the longer term gym leaders knew, as did a few in the upper ranks of the International Police and Pokémon Rangers. In short, knowing what a sideways pokéball meant essentially required one to have decided to dedicate their life (or at least the greater majority of it) to helping people and pokémon.

"Oh."

* * *

A chansey had been sent out to collect Ash, and had led him to a small but well-furnished out of the way nook. They had chatted briefly while the chansey was using softboiled on both of them, and she had agreed to spread the word among the local pokémon to be on the lookout for a hostile spearow flock for a few days. They were interrupted rather suddenly however by–

"There you are!"

Ash's face froze, even as his head ratchetted to the side. "Oh. Hey Misty."

Chansey looked between the two before a knowing grin split her face. "I think I'll give you two some space." And with that, she promptly jumped up and waddled off, arms swinging at her sides.

"What was up with that stunt at the river!?"

"Well I-I mean you were getting tired, and–"

"And you thought you'd be _noble_ and draw them away while I just hid like a scared little girl, is that it? I was just slowing you and Pikachu down!? And don't think he's off the hook either, little yellow rat, I have plenty to say to him too, where… is… Ash? Where's Pikachu?"

The boy looked away. "They've been operating for a while now. He's no too good. He tried to redirect a lightning bolt Mist." He didn't see the girl flinch. "It blew up in our faces. I screwed up Misty. I screwed up bad. I nearly got us all killed. I shouldn't be a trainer. This was supposed to be different, and it's not. When Nurse Joy comes out, I need to ask her how to stop a journey. I need to go home. I need to tuck myself away somewhere where I can't hurt anyone anymore and–"

The blow snapped his head to the side. It wasn't particularly forceful – just an open palmed slap – but it was definitely unexpected. "What you need," His best friend told him, "Is to stop trying to solo everything." She gave him a hug, the same way both of them had comforted Pichu when the nightmares got bad enough. "We're a team you and I. We always will be."

"Misty I… I'm not worth…"

It was sudden. It was reckless. It was brash. It was impulsive. For all of that though, it didn't come with the long-term regret that similar acts often did. What? No, she didn't kiss him, don't be ridiculous. She bit him. "I think you're worth something, and don't you dare insult my Intended." She whispered after releasing his ear.

A moment of hesitation, and then the boy gave in, gently biting her ear in return. "Okay." He replied, "Okay."

Kissing is a human thing.

* * *

We now break the narrative for a dissertation on pokémon relationships. To begin with I should mention that I am ignoring here the species and locale specific rituals and relationship variants. The ritual sequence which I am about to introduce is if not entirely universal, then at least as close as you'll ever see.

Setting aside the more casual variants – one night stands, "just help me through my heat," friends with benefits, "I'm just looking for a fun few weeks," et cetera – a serious, long-term relationship has three stages: Intent, Claiming, and Mating.

Intent is first, and is largely akin to a formal courtship (Not to be confused with simple dating, which strange as it seems has no direct equivalent). It is started by a mutual biting of the ears (Or reasonable alternative as might be required) and may be terminated by the same.

The next stage is Claiming. If a pair of Intended are considered to be courting, then a pair of Claimed would be engaged. This is… decidedly more difficult to break off under most circumstances. The Claiming period is often used to fine tune the compatibility that the Intent stage checked for and began building on. It is generally considered bad form (Ranging from "Just don't rub our noses in it" to completely taboo depending on circumstance, locale, and population makeup) to have more than one individual between the two stages at the same time.

And then there are Mates. Situations where a Mating bond is broken are rare, though slightly more common than some would have you believe (See backstory of the lucario who taught Ash). Almost without exception, all of one's current Mates must sign off on it before one marks another individual as Intended. There are no exceptions for Claiming.

* * *

So now we have a pair of furiously blushing ten-year-olds, only just fully realizing what they've done, both trying to figure out what they were supposed to say or do now…

And the door opened.

The pair sprang apart like they'd been burned, and after glancing between the two, Chansey started giggling while Nurse Joy just looked mildly curious. Neither pressed the issue however, the pokémon lost in her mirth for the moment and the human instead opting for, "Your pikachu's resting right now. The procedure went well, so he should be fine in a day or two. For now, we're moving him to a recovery room, and I though you would want to be with him for a bit."

Misty followed the others into the main lobby where the stretcher was waiting on instinct as much as anything else. Nurse Joy's curiosity had finally reached a tipping point, but her intended query towards the girl's identity was preempted by Officer Jenny's voice coming over the PA system.

And then the skylight broke.

Ash and Misty's confusion at the unusual method of entry was further compounded by the smokescreen. And the motto. Ash was the one who spoke, but both trainers turned to Nurse Joy. "Uh… What are they?"

"Pokémon thieves." Joy licked her lips nervously as she tried to decide how best to phrase the rest… and then noticed the tiny scars covering Misty's bare arms, legs, and midriff. Between that, the familiarity between the two, and the identical reactions, she made a logical leap and decided it was a safe enough bet. "They're like poachers, except they tend to target pokémon who already have trainers."

Many humans over the years have theorized as to whether or not wild pokémon have some form of religion. Typically such is portrayed as being informal in the extreme, largely centered around knowledge of the universe that humans have forgotten, and almost always deifying Arceus, Mew, or both. While there are many pokémon whose respect for these two legendaries and others could be called worship, the typical casting of either Darkrai or Giratina as a devil figure is one they would find ridiculous.

It would not however be wholly inaccurate to say that "poacher" could be translated as "demon."

"You three are wasting your time." Joy stated, "Your organization has a reputation for going after the rare and powerful. You'll find only the sick and injured here."

"Well that may be so, but I wouldn't be at all surprised if we find a few little pokémon gems among all the junk."

"You're starting to bug me." The lights were just barely bright enough to drown out the faint blue glow leaking out of Ash's gloves.

"Isn't that cute."

"The boy's bugged."

*Then let's squash 'im.* "Then let's squash 'im." Ash and Misty both blinked in surprise, only just now realizing that the meowth could speak human.

"Koffing, attack."

"Ekans, go!"

* * *

In his lab, Professor Oak was just checking up on the blood sample analysis for Yellow. Misty's had been completed first and her trainer information had been linked to an infant who had been lost at sea and presumed dead. He stopped cold, blood freezing in his veins as he saw the information the boy had been linked to.

It was only the fact that it had matched against the file in his lab's internal database that meant there was any time at all. And even then there wouldn't be much. It was in the final stages of verification. It would update the entire network within the next minute if he didn't act now.

His half-eaten slice of anchovy, spinach, and pineapple pizza had already fallen forgotten from numb fingers, which left his hands free to grab the data cable he lunged for and pull it from the wall. That bought him the ninety seconds it would take the now isolated subsystem to realize and verify that its primary network connection was gone and switch to the secondary one.

He _sprinted_ to the nearest window, threw it open, stuck his head out, and hollered. "One of you, destroy the radio dish!"

A Haunter obliged, shattering the piece of equipment with a Shadow Ball.

Professor Oak relaxed slightly. After a brief moment to catch his breath, he returned to the room where the analysis was being completed. He spent a few moments staring at the results.

Ketchum.

Ash Ketchum.

He had never forgotten Delia's declaration of course, he had simply written it off as delirious rambling inspired by what portions of a particular story he'd shared with her. And it wasn't as if Ash was a particularly uncommon name either, sometimes it seemed like every third person he met was named after a tree. Especially at research conferences.

There were so many things he could do now. So many things he should do. So many he _wanted_ to… but in the end, all his half-formed plans fell away for the same reason he'd prevented the information from reaching the network.

He had hunted them, with the help of Lance, Agatha, and many others. They had chased the organization that had attacked the Ketchums through multiple regions, scouring every corner they found for information. Hundreds of arrests; grunts, specialists, enforcers, scientists, admins, executives… but they'd never found the boss.

Which meant that some small part of that Team was still out there.

The hunt had uncovered several infiltrators and hinted that there could be more. The Network was not safe enough. He would have to put up the results eventually – not to do so would draw far too much attention – but he would be sure to heavily encrypt everything first. He was sure he could get the Kanto championship to sign off on making this a national secret, and if not… well, there were other regions.

The first thing he needed to do though…

He turned and left again, heading deep into his lab. He retrieved a pokéball and began making his way back. The pokéball's occupant likely would have let herself starve to death by this point if he had left her to her own devices.

He arrived at the terminal and opened the pokéball. The butterfree who emerged looked around for a moment before turning to him in confusion at the lack of food. Wordlessly, he pointed.

Butterfree dropped several inches before she remembered to start flapping again.

"He was taken in by some wild pokémon. He's been right there the entire time and we never even knew."

Butterfree took a moment to process those sentences. Another moment was used to believe. And then she was _gone_ , racing to through the hallways, looping around to exit through the window Oak had opened earlier, and grabbing the first pokémon she saw in her psychic grasp. *The human boy raised by pokémon, where does he live?*

* * *

"This is war! Don't just hold 'em, throw 'em!"

"Right." Pikachu was down. Nurse Joy needed to focus on the machine, and the pikachu behind him were busy powering it. They were facing poison types, so his own abilities would be less effective. Plus he… kinda needed to play by the rules ordinary humans did… which meant using pokémon… one at a time... "Pokéball, here we go!"

* * *

The audience will be spared the embarrassing follow-up, overdone posturing, and naturally the hall of doors chase scene that even the first people to tell a variant of this story felt best left unseen. We rejoin Ash and Pikachu as the stretcher swerves to avoid a Poison Sting barrage from the ekans and crashes into the rather battered front desk.

The horde of pikachu stormed the lobby at the same time that the human members of Team Rocket arrived from another direction. One of the chansey had briefed them on the situation and given them a mission. None of the Center's pikachu was capable of combat – they simply weren't trained for it. The only thing they knew how to do was charge something.

If you'll permit a slight sidebar for a moment: Pikachu's treatment had involved alleviating his burns, bruises, and other injuries, but it had mostly been comprised of draining the excess electricity from the little mouse. This was ironically the largest thing he needed to recover from.

A few stray arcs of electricity managed to stun the Rockets. Several found Ash as well, but seemingly failed to affect him.

Meowth made his appearance just as Pikachu extricated himself from the pika-pile. "Do I have to do everything? That mouse is cat food." *You're mine.* "Just wait, Pikachu, you're mine."

*Hey Ash, got an idea. I'm gonna need to lean on you though.*

Ash stepped behind the cart and placed his hands on Pikachu's sides. It was about the only Aura Technique he could actually do, but they'd done it a few times before. Lucario had said that this one might save their lives, so she had made sure they could do it before signing off on Ash's journey.

The direct contact wasn't absolutely necessary per se, but it did help some. And it hid the faint glow of Ash's palms as the boy pushed his Aura into his brother to reinforce him physically.

Pikachu's technique on the other hand was relatively new. He had only performed it once, and technically not even then. His previous attempt had in fact landed him in his current location. However, he had learned a great deal from the lightning bolt, things about capacity, current, and charge that would have taken him _years_ to discover otherwise.

The first few sparks went unnoticed for a brief moment, though the first full arc did not. About the time Pikachu starting looking like a plasma globe, Meowth paused. "Wat's dis?"

"Well, let me put it this way Meowth, Pikachu and I feel kinda bad about the Pokémon Center's electric bill, but hopefully they'll find a way to charge it to you guys."

I should probably explain one last little thing here. See, when Team Rocket had knocked out the power, they had done so _internally_ , which meant that the lobby was still running. And Pikachu was now using every light fixture, power socket, computer terminal, and any other exposed electronics he could sense to tap _directly into the Viridian City power grid_.

"Bwah?"

"Uh-oh."

*Well, we're dead.*

*Alright, my turn…* Pikachu grinned as he shouted the name he'd decided on, *Teravolt!* The threads of electricity stabilized, and Pikachu fired.

* * *

Officer Jenny slid to a stop as she watched the column of fire erupt from the Pokémon Center.

* * *

Professor Oak frowned. He had accessed the network from a separate terminal (one that remained linked to his still intact landline link to the Network), hoping to leave a message for Ash to call him. Apparently, the boy had already checked into the Viridian City Pokémon Center, but the Center had since dropped off the network. That was… worrisome, to say the least.

Still… There wasn't anything he could do without knowing more. And he had to stay here to make sure that things went _exactly_ the way he needed them to when his lab was repaired.

With a sigh, he simply left a note on Ash's trainer profile. After a moment's thought, he decided to leave one on Misty's as well.

* * *

"Will you be my trainer?"

Ash and Misty stopped to trade a glance before looking back at the caterpie in the middle of the path. It wasn't a difficult decision, and there wasn't really any discussion needed. Misty had issues with most bug types (They'd tried to figure it out, and as near as they could tell, she just found something fundamentally _wrong_ about the way they moved), so it effectively fell to Ash, since it would be his teammate.

It honestly wasn't a request Ash expected to get a lot (A brief pause for the audience's laugher to subside), so there was no hesitation. A pokéball flew out and converted Caterpie into red light.

* * *

They had briefly broken for lunch and some extremely light training that had largely consisted of figuring out what Caterpie could do. Questions had been traded back and forth about respective backgrounds – Apparently the poor bug had been walking up to every trainer who came through the forest and asking them to catch him for the past three months. He had been rather surprised to learn that most humans _didn't_ understand pokémon.

They had continued on, with Pikachu riding on Misty's shoulders instead of Ash's. The idea was that letting her carry him every so often would help her endurance on land. After they had gone a ways, Ash suddenly motioned for Misty to stop. He pulled out and enlarged Caterpie's pokéball.

"Alright Caterpie," He whispered, "There's a pidgeotto that's been following us for a while now. I think it's looking for a battle. I'm pretty sure I know a good way for you to take on a flying type, and this is a good spot to test it out. There's a fallen log on the left with a big rock next to it. Get into the space they form and it'll only be able to come at you from one direction."

The ball was then airborne, opening to let Caterpie materialize. He waited, trusting his new trainer's instincts, then…

"Haha! Lunch is served!"

Caterpie bolted… directly into the dead end like his trainer had told him to. Fortunately, Ash was already moving, having lost only half a second to surprise and recalibration. "Caterpie, return!" The thin beam of red light sucked the bug back into his ball, the pidgeotto's Peck passing straight through and sending it on a tumble across the ground. "Pikachu, Thundershock now!"

"Wait, what!?"

* * *

If the audience will permit one more break for background information. On the subject of eating other pokémon: Yes, it happens. There are not rules for it as such (Excepting the occasional instance where it is part of a rite – see prologue), but there is a simple set of guidelines. Never eat anything from your own evolutionary chain. Only eat something from an evolutionary chain that passes through the same egg group as yours if starvation is the sum of your alternatives. Try to avoid eating any pokémon that don't fall into those two categories.

* * *

Pidgeotto looked around in confusion for a bit after she rematerialized. _Wasn't I just battling a… trainer._ She sighed. "Well, I suppose it's not the worst thing that could have happened."

"Were you really going to eat Caterpie?"

The bird looked up at the boy, found herself unable to meet the honesty, pain, and _pity_ she saw in his eyes, and looked away. After a moment, she nodded.

There was a sigh, a tearing sound, and a dry rattle. Then… something… intruded on her field of vision.

She tilted her head as she inspected it curiously. Then gave up and glanced between the human ( _her_ human) and the brown… things?

"It's food." At her dubious look, he reached out, picked up a piece, and popped it in his mouth. When he swallowed, she went back to regarding the brown… food apparently. Well, it definitely fell into the "Better than Nothing" category.

As she ate, her new trainer spoke, "My name's Ash by the way. I'm from a ways south of here, right by the coast. What's your story? Not often you see a pidgeotto nearly starving."

"Don't really have much of one." Pidgeotto spoke around her food. "Dad was captured before I was born; Mom just got caught two months ago. Same trainer also got one of my brothers. My other brother hooked up with a flock, but… well, only one thing females are good for after all, right?"

Ash winced. "I'm sorry, I didn't even think about… look, if you don't wanna have a trainer after all we've done to you, I can let you go whenever you want."

It took a moment for the response to sink in. Or rather, the fact that there _was_ a response. "Nah, it's fine, I…" Pidgeotto stopped. With deliberate slowness, she swallowed everything in her beak, straightened up, and looked at the boy. "Could you please repeat that?" Ash did. "Yeah, that's what I thought you said." She looked at Pikachu, gesturing to Ash with a wing. "How?"

"Short version–" Pikachu was cut off by a cackle. "Never mind, explanation'll have to wait."

…

*Is my pikachu really that special?*

"Ouch." Pidgeotto glanced at what was apparently one of her new teammates.

"Yeah, we really need to find a better cover story than clueless, this is gonna get old real fast."

…

*Hey, two against one, that's cheating!*

*So let's make it two on two, Shellder and I wouldn't mind settling the score.*

*But the rules say only one at a time.*

*Ash, if we play by the rules, we're going to lose everyone.* "Besides," She said, far more quietly, "This isn't a match. The humans would call this a street fight."

*Koffing, sludge attack, now*

"Gah! Come on, how'd I not see that coming!"

"Guess none of the humans are playing by the rules today." Pidgeotto snarked as she took to the air.

"Guess so. Ash, I'm out of this fight. We both know I'm no good blind."

Ash's eyes closed. He took and released a single breath. Then his eyes snapped open and his hat was turned back to clear his field of vision. *Pidgeotto, Gust on Ekans!*

And another pokéball was in the air. *Shellder, Water Gun!*

*Ekans, Dig!*

*Koffing, Sludge again!*

For a brief moment, Pidgeotto and Shellder were caught up in the humans' usual rules still, viewing this as two duels. They quickly realized what it meant that the snake was using a ground type move, but it was already too late by then.

Pidgeotto was doing a decent job dodging, though her tail feathers had been fouled by a glancing blow, so steering was slightly difficult… And then she was hit from below by a water type missile.

Apparently ekans can learn Shellder Throw.

The impact with each other didn't do much real damage. The subsequent impact with the ground however… Well, things got rather one sided after that.

"Ash, maybe if you just pointed me in the right direction, I could…"

Misty was the one who responded, "No good. Were in a forest in clear weather. You don't have anything to draw from for those kinds of wide range attacks to be any good."

Even as his companions muttered to each other, Ash took stock of the situation. He was sure he could handle the humans, and the meowth was a normal type, so no problem there. The problem was those two poison types. He pulled his last pokéball from his belt.

"I didn't want to risk bringing you out in case there were any more hungry flying types around here. And because… you've put all your faith in me, and frankly that's terrifying. But I'm out of options, so right now… Right now Caterpie, you're my only hope. So I'll believe in you too, just give it your very best shot. Do what you can, and I'll take care of the rest. Caterpie, go!"

* * *

As they watched their retreating enemies, Ash smiled. "Good job Caterpie."

"Thanks Ash. Umm… I was just wondering, would you be alright with it if I wasn't a Caterpie? I know a lot of humans prefer to have caterpie for some reason, but…"

"Well yeah, you're my friend. I'd be happy with whatever kind of pokémon you were."

"Oh good, I can stop holding off then."

"Holding off what?"

* * *

"Excuse me, are you trainers?"

"Huh? Oh hey, a weedle!"

"Oh, you are trainers, you've got a pikachu. I was wondering if you could help with… pre~tty."

"Huh, maybe it's just a bug thing."

"What, not realizing most humans don't speak pokémon?"

"So. Many. Colors. It's like you're all kind of flowers!"

"Yeah. Let's go with that."

* * *

"Honestly, there's twelve of those idiots, you'd think with two of them keeping an eye on the rest of the weedle, ten of them would be able to watch one hatchling between them, but no~o, I'm gone for three minutes to grab some food and she slips right out from under them!" Beedrill paused in her muttering as she wove through a bush. "Honestly, how does she manage to get into so much trouble? Is she trying to…" She trailed off as she broke out onto a path and found her target.

Animatedly talking at a pair of humans.

"Well, I'm dead."

"I take it that she belongs to you then?" Beedrill turned to find a faintly amused pikachu.

"Yeah." A sigh. "Well, she did at least. How am I gonna explain _this_ one?"

"Might not have to, they haven't had a chance to do much yet with how she's been yammering about how colorful Misty is. Hold on a sec. Hey! Ash! Appropriate Parental Unit or Alternative Guardian has arrived!"

That got the attention of all three individuals in the right general direction.

"Beedrill! Come here, you have to see this! Look at this human, so many colors! She's like yellow and blue and red and orange and–"

"And you are supposed to be back at the nest young lady!" Beedrill turned to the humans. "Thank you for watching my idiot sister, I hope she wasn't too much of a nuisance."

"Hey! I wasn't being a nuisance, I was trying to get help!"

"Oh yeah, you did mention that. What did you need help _with_ exactly?"

"Nothing, we wouldn't want to…" Beedrill paused, reviewed, and decided to go for a second opinion. "Did your human just talk?"

"Yes."

Beedrill had no response to that. Weedle however, did. "Okay, so there's this other human who's a real dummy, and he goes around swinging this sword…"

* * *

"…So the point is, you're destroying the local food supply by cutting up all the berry trees, and the pokémon around here want you to move on."

"Are either of you from Pallet Town?"

The pair exchanged a look. "Well, neither of us is actually from there…" Ash began.

Misty's hand drifted slightly closer to Shellder's pokéball. "But we've both been called Pallet Trainers by some of those who are. Why?"

And out came the sword. "Then I challenge one of you to a duel! If you win, I shall continue on as you insist!" Ash perked up slightly and began removing his backpack. "Not that such shall happen of course, you two are clearly novices at the arts of pokémon training and battling." Ash carefully hid his slight disappointment as he set his bag down.

The moment that took meant Misty was the first to respond, pokéball in hand. "Alright, then I'll… Actually, how many pokémon do you have?"

"I have two."

"Then how bout you have a one-on-one battle against each of us?"

"I accept your terms! Should either of you win, I will leave this forest."

"Shellder, you're up!"

"Pinsir, assume battle mode!"

"Water gun!"

"Crush that shellder in half!"

"Withdraw! Now!"

The pinsir rose and began squeezing the shellfish. However, there had really only been one way to pick it up coming from the front. Which meant that Shellder was now between the bug's head claws, hinged opposite but parallel, and facing down.

"Now Water Gun!" There was no real purchase to be found on the smooth shell, so the force of the spray propelled Shellder several dozen feet into the air. "And Withdraw again!"

"Foolish maiden, you fall right back into my pinsir's claws. Pinsir, catch it and crush it!"

There is a secret to the trick of catching a sword between your palms.

Pinsir didn't know it.

What this experience left him with was several spikes sheared from his claws, a large crack the chitin atop his head, and a total lack of consciousness. Shellder finished bouncing, opened up, and stuck out his tongue. *Nyah!*

"Pinsir return!"

"Right, guess I'm up." Pikachu moved to follow his trainer, only for Ash to motion him back. "If it was high stakes, I'd definitely use you. I know your abilities best. But Misty already won, which means this is a perfect chance to see what _she_ can do." Ash held up a pokéball, and after a moment, Pikachu nodded his understanding. "Alright then, Pidgeotto, I choose you!"

"Pokéball, go!"

"Metapod?"

"Metapod, Harden!"

"Pidgeotto, Quick Attack!"

The metapod bounced for a bit. "Harden again!"

Ash went to say something, then paused. "Is Harden all metapod can do?"

"As far as I know."

"Right. Pidgeotto? Just use Gust." She did so. Repeatedly.

"Aaugh! I am defeated! My humiliation is complete; all five Trainers of Pallet have bested me. My honour is forever stained!"

There was a distant droning sound. It was gradually rising in volume.

"A swarm of beedrill approaches. Good day." Samurai turned and ran.

*Oh sure, _now_ they send out search parties.* The beedrill who had led Ash, Misty, and Pikachu there flew out from where she'd been watching and dusted both humans with something halfway between a powder and a spray.

The beedrill dove, beginning their attack run… and flowing around Ash and Misty as if they weren't even there. Samurai hit the denser foliage at the edge of the clearing and kept going, a decent number of beedrill following him, but most of them breaking off and pulling up. As they regrouped, one of them spotted the pair. *Humans! Attack!*

His dive was brought to a screeching halt that led to a several bug pileup when Beedrill flew in front of him with her needles perpendicular to each other. *Time out, time out, time out!*

*Beedrill, what is going on here? And,* The beedrill who was speaking sniffed. *Did you douse these humans in pheromones?*

*Okay, so funny story…*

* * *

They had spent the night at the beedrill nest and were now getting ready to leave. It was in fact as they were saying goodbye to Weedle and Beedrill, that the latter surprised them. "Misty, last night the Nest Elders spoke to me. They noticed that you only had one pokémon to Ash's three, and wanted me to approach you with a request.

"See… we're in danger of outgrowing our territory at the moment. Which means we can't really afford any adventurous types, especially considering the potential we have to run into trouble with rival colonies. If Weedle stays here, it'll just make her miserable and the rest of us irritated. Please, take her with you. Otherwise one of us'll eventually get fed up and strangle the ditz."

"I… To be honest, I'd been planning to focus mostly on water types. I'll be going back home to Seafoam eventually, and that isn't exactly the best place for a bug type to try to live… Still… I guess a little diversity can't hurt, and I have a feeling I'll be spending a lot of time in the Forest of Pallet once I'm done travelling anyway. So Weedle, what do you think? Wanna come with us?"

* * *

"…Also, per your ongoing request for information on the destruction of the Viridian City Pokémon Center, Unit #0556's report was flagged. Continuing from there, the monthly expenditure and recruitment reports are on your desk as well, and…"

* * *

"Samuel, you went to a great deal of trouble to get me here quickly and quietly."

"Agatha, we need to talk."

* * *

"By the way, that'll be a two dollar charge for resting on my rocks."

* * *

 **A/N: And with this, we are officially into the story. For those of you unfamiliar with my writing style for this type of set-up, it'll be basically like this the whole way, focus being on the things that are different from canon with unchanged moments presented when they provide depth. That said, there shouldn't be quite this much expository worldbuilding going forward - at least, not in this concentration.**

 **On the subject of my previous authors note: I've been told that I have a tendency to come off a bit too strong in these. Largely it simply comes down to an intent to not repeat myself. Hope I didn't scare anybody off with it (Or this next bit).**

 **Which brings us to somehting I mentioned in the last note but didn't want to state too early: Ash & Misty's relationship. There is no cultural "Age of Adulthood" for them. They simply have no concept of attaching a debatably arbitrary number to a theoretical line like that. They were raised in a similar setting to most real-world animals, where rights and responsibilities come hand-in-hand essentially as soon as one is willing to assume them. This won't be quite so noticable is a world where most ten-year-olds travel the world completely unsupervised, but there will still be moments that catch characters (and readers) by surprise. Which leads me to a question I need to head off at the pass: Yes, Ash and Misty will have sex at some point. Yes, it will be earlier than would be socially or legally acceptable in most parts of our world. No, it will not be happening on-screen.**

 **I've already mentioned parts of this, but Ash was raised in what basically amounts to a borderline anarchist confederation of various nests. There's honestly not much structure there beyond what basically amounts to a mutual nonaggression treaty and the unifying threat of the spearow flock. Misty on the other hand was raised in a cobbled-together gerentocratic representative republic with some autocratic influence in the form of the individual that keeps it all together. There are still some consistent similarities however, and one of those is that the future is not secure. War, disease, starvation, disaster, accident, and trainers can take a pokemon away at any time. The next generation is always needed _now_. male or female, it is expected that one does their part to keep the population going as soon as they reach a breedable age.**

 **Their nests won't be taking this to the dark extremes that might imply, though other nests they encounter might take the same measures that some real-world human cultures have. It does mean however that once reproductive capability is reached, one should be at least passively watching for potential partners, and if an acceptable one is found... long courtships aren't exactly a thing.**

 **I did warn you that there would be uncomfortable side effects to stepping outside of human societal constraints. This is one of the seven large items that I can see making people squirm a bit, though its interconnected enough with two others that I almost put them all under the same umbrella. Coincidentally, those three are the ones I'm expecting to be the most controversial. To put some perspective on my scale here, the practice of eating pokemon (viewing such as eating other intelligent beings and therefore a debatable variation of cannibalism) was another one, and one of the two I'm the _least_ worried about.**

 **Of the other five two have been shown but not highlighted, and another has been at least hinted at. I hesitate to post the full list because, well, spoilers, but if it gets to be a big thing I probably will. If I do, there won't be much in the way of explanations like this one until the issues actually appear. Several reasons for that, one of which being that a few things are going to need explaining to characters as well as readers, and if I'm going to need to present things in-story anyway I'd really rather only explain things once.**

 **Another being that I'm not sure anyone'd make it through a wall of text seven times the size of this one (Hopefully future Author's Notes won't be quite this long). On that note, thanks to anyone still reading, hope I'm not boring you too badly.**

 **~NPP-VI**


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